Season highlights: Won state Div. II and Federation titles in 100 meter hurdles ...

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Courtney Warden

School, grade: Marlboro senior

College: Headed for Stony Brook University; intends to study medicine

Season highlights: Won state Div. II and Federation titles in 100 meter hurdles … winning Fed time of 14.26 seconds is No. 2 in state this season and No. 3 all-time in Section 9 … won state qualifier Div. II final (14.64), Section 9-B final (15.42) and MHAL final (14.8).

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Courtney Warden made up her mind at age 5 that she wanted to be a dentist.

It took her a bit longer to decide that hurdling was her ideal path to success.

Warden took up track and field in the sixth grade when her father insisted that she take up a sport. It started at the local YMCA and continued on at her grade school, Saint Terese of Lisieux Catholic Academy in Brooklyn. When her family moved to Marlboro more than five years ago, Warden kept up running sprint races.

A coach, Kathy Rogers-Carroll, noticed Warden had good flexibility and she suggested her athlete take up hurdling. Warden was reluctant at first, afraid she might fall over the barriers, and, quite frankly, she was happier following the crowd.

"I guess I just wanted to be with friends,'' she said. "They weren't doing it, and I wanted to be with them.''

Eventually, Warden took heed of her coach's suggestion "and it became what I was good at,'' she said.

Warden, the Varsity845 girls' outdoor track and field athlete of the year, leaves Marlboro as one of Section 9's most accomplished athletes. At the state championships, Warden won the 100-meter hurdles small-school public title at 14.29 seconds, and followed that up with a stunning victory in the Federation race at 14.26 seconds — that is the third-fastest time in section history and the second-best time in the state this season.

"I hadn't run 14.4 at all,'' she said, "and then I come out with a 14.2 and that's like 'Whoaaa! ' ''

Warden described the Fed race as the perfect race at the perfect time.

"She always had a competitive edge,'' said Marlboro hurdles coach Pete Carofano. "She was in the big meets toward the end of the season and when it counted the most is when she stepped up the most. That's a tribute to her mentality.''

"That's what our dad instilled in us,'' Warden said. "He said you have to go out there and do what you need ... know when to buckle down and be serious.''

Warden is excited for her future in college track and field. "My coach said I have so much potential,'' she said. "I hope I improve a lot.''

Six years after getting her start, Warden is glad she stuck with track and field.

"Most people don't want to stick to a sport for too long,'' she said. "Because it's hard work and everything but as the season does progress it does get easier, once you're fit to do it. You have to be committed. You have to have that perseverance. You have to want to do good in school. You have to want to do good in a sport.''